


It's Only Forever

by Anonymous



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ballroom Dancing, F/M, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A moonlit waltz at the demon prince's palace- can the princess break his curse?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Even though this story is an AU, the characters are still based on the anime version of Fruits Basket, rather than the manga (darker-haired Yuki, male!Akito, etc.). Unlike in canon, only Yuki and Kyou share the curse.

 

 

Despite it being just midday, the sky seen through the carriage window was becoming increasingly murky.

“The Wizard Shigure didn’t predict any rain for our journey,” fretted the princess, leaning farther out the window, until a gust of wind whipped up her hair, forcing her back inside.

“It’s always like this in the demon kingdom,” replied the knight as he continued to stare out the opposite window with his trademark vaguely miffed expression.

“I’m so excited to be meeting the prince!” chattered Princess Tohru. “He sounds so nice from the stories I’ve heard. The demons don’t sound much different than us, you know?”

“If you say so,” Kyou mumbled. The knight was always irritable, but Tohru could tell that something was on his mind today.

It soon became clear that as the sky grew darker, the road grew steadily more bumpy as well. The scenery slowly changed from the lush verdancy of the princess’s forest home, to craggy rocks interspersed among sand.

The carriage eventually connected with a stone that was so precicly situated in the road, it was practically screaming for the driver to run over it.

“Eep!” the princess was tossed across the plush cushions and into the unprepared arms of her knight. However, those very arms…disappeared.

“A cat! Help! He’s a cat!” the princess screamed. Indeed, in place of her faithful knight, there was now an orange cat in her arms.

At that very moment, a mail carriage happed to be passing by.

“Sir Kyou is a cat!” Tohru shrieked as she held the animal out the window toward the mail carrier.

“What a cute name for a cat!” the mailman replied, as he sped up his carriage, turning at the fork in the road.

Frozen in disbelief, Tohru continued to dangle the creature out of the window.

There came an audible ‘ _Poof!’,_ then suddenly her hands felt much lighter.

“Gah!”

Tohru heard a male voice yell as she looked back on the road. Sir Kyou, who was now a man once more, lay groaning in the dust.

“Stop the carriage!” the princess cried out.

Once Kyou had been successfully dusted off and collected back into the carriage, he began an explaination that he knew would have had to come sooner or later:

“ My cousin accidentally killed a rat when we kids. We were playing ball outside and he hit it into a bush. It conked into a rat and the thing dropped dead. We both felt pretty bad about it, but we left it there and went about our business, until later that night. My cousin wasn’t watching where he was going and he bumped into our maid. He turned into a rat, just like that. We took him to see a wizard and sure enough, he was under a curse. I guess maybe the rat was a witch’s familiar or a human who was under a curse and passed it on, or whatever. A few days later, some girl at school tripped on the steps and when I caught her, I became a cat. The wizard thinks that maybe the spirit made me a cat in the hopes that I’ll kill the stupid rat off one of these days.”

“But you’ve touched me before... Just last week, when our carriage was being held up, you held me to protect me from the robbers. Why didn’t you transform until now?” asked the princess.

“It’s because we’re in the demon kingdom. Magic is always stronger here.”

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to Castle Sohma.” A young man with black and white two-toned hair opened the main door, bowing deeply to guests.

The royal and her knight entered as prompted.

“My name is Hatsuharu, but you may just call me Haru,” drawled the young footman. “Princess, Sir, please allow me to escort you to the prince…”

* * *

 

“Where the hell are we?” Kyou inquired ever so politely.

Quite a few minutes had passed and the trio now found themselves in a room so abundant in dusty objects that they could be expected to take on sentience and transform into some sort of furniture golem at any moment.

“Oh... I get a little lost sometimes,” intoned the footman as his finger traced a smiley face on a grimy desk.

Footsteps could be heard in the hall.

“Haru? Is that you? Shouldn’t you be letting the guests in?” A young man peeked into the room. While his hair color gave the princess a sudden craving for black raspberry ice cream, his most striking feature were the helical horns protruding from either side of his head. The effect was almost comical, like a child at play on the beach holding up seashells.

“Haru! Did you get lost again? The poor guests! I told you to just leave them in the hall and come get me.” The purple haired boy shook his head in exasperation, then knelt before the princess, taking her hand. “This must be Princess Tohru. It’s a pleasure to meet you. The bards must sing of your loveliness, my lady.” The prince kissed her hand lightly, like the first snow flake of the late fall. “I am Prince Yuki.”

Once the prince released her hand, the princess gave her best curtsy. “It’s very nice to meet you, My Lord! I am Princess Tohru and this is my knight, Sir Kyou. Thank you so very much for inviting us to your party!” she exclaimed.

At hearing mention of the knight, Yuki seemed to realise for the first time that someone other than Haru and the princess were in the room. Kyou had remained silent during the meeting of the two royals, but his furrowed eyebrows spoke volumes.

* * *

 

The group had found their way out of the dungeon of banished household objects and moved into a more appropriate lavish sitting room to continue their meeting.

“I’m so glad that you were able to make it a few days early, Princess. King Akito thought it would be a good idea for you and myself to spend some time together and strengthen the relationship between our lands.”

There came a knock at the door.

“My Lord, I’ve brought the tea.” A rather demure maid entered bearing a tray. Her headdress complimented her short brunette hair very flatteringly.

“Oh let me take that!” Tohru leapt up to relieve the maid of her beverage burden.

“Oh no! I can’t possibly let a guest serve themselves!” the maid held the tray away from the princess, causing the young royal to misjudge and loose her footing.

The prince, swooping in like a swan, caught Tohru around the waist, saving her from making an unwanted acquaintance with the stone floor.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” Tohru began…but the prince simply was not there. Instead, on the floor sat a furry creature small enough to fit into one of the tea cups.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

“My Lady, your gown has arrived.”

“Kagura, don’t be silly, please call me Tohru!”

“Of course, Tohru.” The maid beamed as she handed the parcel to the princess.

The princess, along with her knight, had been staying in the demon castle for about a week now. Tohru had seen little of the prince during that time but enjoyed a blossoming friendship with his maid. There were only two maids at the castle, Kagura, whom had served their tea on the first day, and a junior maid, a tiny young mute girl named Kisa. Interestingly, the castle employed very little staff. Few others resided there other than the prince, the two maids, and Haru the footman. Akito, the king, was often away at his summer home.

“Oh it’s lovely!” Tohru exclaimed as she took the dress from the box. “Do I really get to keep this?”

“Yup! It’s a gift from the king, but between you and me, I think the prince will be very happy to see you wear it.” The maid giggled.

“The prince…how is he I’ve only seen him in passing ever since the day we arrived.”

Kagura giggled again. “He’s probably embarrassed and doesn’t know how to handle it. He really only meets new people at big parties. I don’t think he knows quite what to do one-on-one. You probably noticed, but there really aren’t many of us here at the castle.”

“Is it because of the curse? Is it true that he really can’t touch anyone?”

“It’s only ladies that he can’t touch; men are okay for some reason.”

“Then how are you and Kisa able to work here? I mean, If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Sir Kyou told you the story about his cousin bumping into the maid and then transforming for the first time? That was me! I’ve known for so long that it just made sense for me to stay with him as his personal maid throughout the years.”

“But what about Kisa?”

“Haru brought her home one day after running errands in town. He got lost in the woods on the way home and found her there, wandering all alone. She can’t, or won’t, speak so we have no idea where she came from. She pays for her stay here by doing chores.” Kagura had begun to dust around the guest room as she spoke. Suddenly, the dust in the air caused a tiny sneeze to escape her. Tohru noted that the maid’s open mouth contained a set of fierce fangs.

“The prince sounds very kind. Letting Kisa stay here, I mean.”

“Demons aren’t any different from humans. Beyond outward appearance, obviously. I mean, some of us can use magic, but it’s really not a big deal. The prince is just a normal guy. So, how about trying on that dress?”

Tohru took her new gown into the washroom adjoining her guestroom. As she prepared to step into the dress, she noticed that the label read ‘Ayame’. Was that a famous designer, she wondered.

“You look amazing!” Kagura was quite sincere in her praise as Tohru came out of the washroom. “I’m glad you don’t mind not getting to wear the dress you brought with you. It’s a tradition for ladies to wear black at formal occasions in our country.”

“Oh it’s no problem at all! I’m happy to do whatever needs to be done to strengthen the bonds between are kingdoms!” she proclaimed enthusiastically.

Once she had finished tidying up, Kagura left to attend to her other duties **.**

 _I do hope she can get to spend some time with the prince, beyond just at the ball,_ she thought as she approached the next guest room. What was the king thinking, keeping Yuki so isolated for so many years and then suddenly sending this girl to stay with him? Kagura didn’t dare think that the king had changed his manipulative ways.

King Akito, older cousin to Yuki and Kyou, was a fair ruler to his kingdom overall, but kept a grip on his own royal family like a miser on his coins.

Kagura approached the door of the second guest room, which she had purposely put off until last, and knocked gingerly. No response came. _Clearly Sir Kyou has met with a terrible fate and needs rescuing!_ She fumbled with her key ring, but the guest room door key had decided that it was taking the day off and refused to make an appearance. The obvious next step was to break down the door.

“What the- Hey! Who is- Argh!” A man who was presumably Sir Kyou, seemed to be trapped in the clutches of quite the malevolent shirt. Either that, or he had simply been interrupted while dressing. The shirt was wrapped around his head as he attempted to stagger toward the door like a drunken headless horseman.

One look at his bare chest told Kagura that he had kept up with his training since she had last seen him years ago. She wondered how many bears he had fought; he used to talk about that often enough.

“Oh, it’s you from the other day.” Kyou grumbled as he finally managed to pull the offending garment on properly.

“I have some free time so I thought maybe we could catch up…”

“’Catch up’?”

Is it possible that maybe he didn’t remember her? Tears crept into the corners of her eyes.

“Kyon-kyon, don’t you remember me!?” She screeched, grabbing a chair and brandishing it toward him. “We were going to get married!”

His eyes lit up with sudden realization “You! The junior maid from when we were kids! You were going to tell everyone in town about my curse if I didn’t agree to marry you! Besides, I figured after I went to work in the human kingdom, I’d never have to see you again. Now put that thing down!”

The chair sailed through the air and made it’s grand exit through the window.

“Oh my, Kyon-kyon, how did your window get broken? Isn’t it drafty in here? You’ll catch cold!”

* * *

 

Tohru studied the mirror. The dress was beautiful, even if she did secretly prefer the one she had brought from home. She appreciated the gift too much to complain, of course. _Never look a gift dress up the skirt! …or something like that._

For the second time that morning, a knock came at her door.

“Come in!” The princess stood from her vanity and brushed the wrinkles from the gown.

The prince confidently strode into the room. It was hard to believe that this man, a picture of royalty, could be embarrassed about anything.

“Good morning, Princess. Kagura told me the dress arrived?”

“It sure did!” The princess smiled cheerfully.

“Is that it? May I take a closer look?”

The prince moved nearer until less than a foot separated the two.

“The king sent it, didn’t he?” The prince frowned. “What happened to the dress you brought with you. I mean, you must have brought one from home, yes?” he inquired after looking her up and down.

“It’s still here, but shouldn’t I wear this one? I mean, the king went through the trouble to pick it out…”

“Never mind that. Would you mind putting the other one on?”

* * *

 

Tohru once again exited the bathroom after having changed for the second time that morning.

“Much better.” The prince smiled gently and reached for the ribbon on the front of the yellow party dress, bringing it his lips. “Adorable.” He murmured to the piece of satin.

“Um, ah…Is it true that you and Kyou are cousins?” Tohru asked once Yuki had released the ribbon.

Yuki’s expression soured. “We are, but only distantly related. He was never in line for the throne or anything like that. We haven’t seen each other since we were kids. He was always such a hothead, I figured he’d be dead by now. How did he ever wind up with someone like you?”

“He just knocked on my mother’s door one day, asking for work. He started out in the stables and moved up. He must have trained a lot before he came to us because I’ve never seen someone become a knight so quickly!”

The prince allowed himself a chuckle. “That would be him.”

“Do you suppose he left your kingdom in order to break the curse?”

It was the first time she had had a chance to bring up the curse to him since the day one week ago when she was quickly shooed from the sitting room, empty tea cup in hand.

The prince began to study the window. A bird was pecking at the cracking, barren soil. “In order to escape it, more like…”

 


	3. Chapter 3

“You can open your eyes now,” Yuki whispered, hand still grasping Tohru’s, guiding her.

Tohru gasped as she complied, “How can there be such a perfect garden in the desert?” She knelt down to inspect a strawberry. “This amazing! Who takes care of it all?”

“I do.” The prince knelt down as well, “This is my secret base.”

At some point during his visit to the girl’s room earlier, Yuki had grown frustrated with the topic of his obnoxious cousin. Telling Tohru that he had a surprise for her seemed a good way to get off the subject.

“How do you keep it so green?” she marveled.

A tiny snail was meandering its way across the strawberry plant. Tohru let it glide onto her finger.

“I read books on magic theory in my free time. The ones about green magic are really quite informative.”

Yuki set his sights on a slightly larger snail and also allowed it to scoot onto his hand, which he carefully lifted to meet with Tohru’s outstretched index finger. With a gentle motion, he pressed (what were presumably) the tiny mollusks’ lips together.

“A little love doesn’t hurt either,” Yuki smiled cheerfully.

Tohru giggled. “They are cute, aren’t they?” she said as she released the creature onto a leaf.

“Yes, very cute.” The prince’s eyes remained fixed on the princess, as he allowed his snail to slide away as well, “While we’re here, I maybe you’d like to pick out something, and we could have dinner together. To make up for tea the other day, I mean.”

Tohru quickly looked around, not wanting to insult the prince’s generosity by taking too long. “These! Let’s have these!” she pointed to some leeks that were sprouting.

Yuki let out a sharp laugh, “I guess this means that the cat won’t being joining us!”

On the way back to the castle, Tohru asked him where the books were kept, explaining that she’d like to pass time until dinner. Yuki drew a map in the sand.

“You see, the sitting room is here. If you go to the end of the hall, that’s the library.”

The princess thanked him as they parted ways.

 

* * *

 

“Kagura,” Tohru began, setting down her book, “do you know what the boys have tried so far to break the curse?”

The maid paused, raising her duster off the bookshelves to twirl it in the air thoughtfully. “Hmm. Not much, as far as I know. Kyou took off before trying anything at all and Yuki disappears for hours each day, but I don’t think he’s working with the curse. He seems to just have accepted his lot. That’s why I’m so glad you’re here. I think you might get him out of his comfort zone and get him motivated to lead a more normal life.”

Tohru of course knew where Yuki was disappearing to, but she understood that he trusted her not to tell. Tohru giggled to herself. To think that a prince’s ‘secret base’ was a simple vegetable patch! Very charming.

“Did you get to a funny part?” Kagura asked, sitting at the library table across from Tohru.

“No, it’s nothing,” Tohru continued to smile as she picked the book back up and turned to the next page.

“What are you reading, then?”

“It’s a book of fairy stories. See, I tried a few magic books, but they were all about casting curses rather than curing them. So there really are some cultural differences between our countries!”

Kagura examined the cover of the book that Tohru was holding open.

“Oh! I remember that book! Yuki, Kyou, and I took turns reading it out loud as kids. I always liked the one about the overly-generous traveler. I wanted to act it out with Kyou, but he would never let me…”

Tohru attempted to pull Kagura back from her reverie. “Do you know if there are any stories in here about curses? My mom used to read books like these to me and I remember that a lot of the stories involved cursed princes or princesses, so I was curious if it’s the same here…”

“Oh yeah! There are tons of stories like that. They always end with a kiss, don’t they?”

“Yes! Those are the ones!”

“By the way, why the sudden interest in the curse? Is it… is it for Kyou?” Kagura gazed down toward the floor as she asked.

“Well, actually… it’s about Yuki. I mean, I know that I’ve known Kyou longer and all, but Yuki just seems so lonely. I think he would have so much more fun at his ball if he could actually dance with the ladies instead of sitting on the sidelines.”

“So, you want to break the curse before the ball?” Kagura perked back up, relieved that Tohru didn’t seem to share the same feelings that she held for Kyou.

“Yes!”

Kagura clasped both of Tohru’s hands, eyes sparkling, “Let’s do it! I want to dance with Kyou!”


	4. Chapter 4

As she sat at the dinner table, Tohru could hear the prince’s voice speaking, but the words sounded like alien noises to her, lost in thought as she was.

She recalled her research with Kagura from a few hours earlier. Every story they poured over seemed to agree- a kiss from a maiden was the optimal way to cure a curse.

Princess Tohru had never kissed anyone before. Of course, her hand had been kissed many a time, but even then, there was usually the cloth of a glove between the lips and her skin. How could she possibly kiss Prince Yuki before the ball?

“…dessert?” The soft voice of the prince wafted around her head.

“What? I wasn’t listening. Oh, I’m so sorry…”

“That’s alright. I was asking if you’d like Kisa to bring you some cake. Are you tired? It’s okay if you need to go back to your room…”

“No, no! I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? Because the ball is tomorrow. I’d hate for you to fall ill and have to miss it.” The prince’s eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Um, well, on second thought, maybe I will go back to my room.” Tohru’s chair squealed on the stone floor as she pushed it backward abruptly.

She kept up a brisk pace on the way back to her room, her mind still awash in a sea of kissing and princes. The most obvious way to accomplish the task would be to make the prince fall in love with her, but that seemed so dishonest. She couldn’t spend time with a boy with an ulterior motive in mind, even if it was for his benefit, it just felt wrong. There must be another way. Asking him out-right was out of the question. There was no way that a gentleman such as himself would kiss a girl he hardly knew, or at least that was the impression Tohru got.

Tohru reached her room, shut the door, and flopped herself onto the bed.

“Princess Tohru?” The prince’s delicate voice slipped through the wooden door.

Tohru didn’t respond. The embarrassment hit her all at once. Running away from dinner like that was definitely a step in wrong direction, if she truly planned on kissing the prince!

“I’m very sorry if dinner didn’t agree with you. It’s all my fault. The food from the garden must not have been ripe yet, and I should have noticed. Well, Kisa brought the cake anyway, so I’ll just leave it here at the door.”

A moment or two after Tohru thought that he had left, she found that as if by puppet strings, her body had stood by itself and meandered to the door.

She placed first her hands and forehead against the grainy oak, then her lips. If only it were that easy. There should be a way for her to kiss the prince without his knowing and bestow him with the gift of living curse-free, like a beribboned Santa Claus.

Not being one for heavy make-up, the lips left no mark as she swiftly pulled away, feeling quite silly.

“I hope you feel better soon.” Came the soft voice once again, followed by the clink of a plate being set down. Footsteps could now be heard traveling away from the room.

He must have been waiting there for a response. He had definitely heard her walk up to the door! He must think she was so rude, being up and about and not bothering to answer.

She would have asked Kagura for advice, but Tohru knew that the maid was also very busy today…

* * *

 

Kagura had a plan of her very own. She hated to be selfish, really she did, but she had decided not to fill Tohru in on all of the details. It was hard for her not to be selfish when her _adorable_ Kyou was involved. _To think that my little Kyon-kyon grew up to be a real, live knight in shining armor! And what do knights do? They save maidens, of course!_ This was the basis of Kagura’s _brilliant_ plan. A little knowledge of the lay-out of the castle helped too.

“Kyon-Kyon!”

“What is it now?” He cringed as the girl ran toward her.

After Tohru had been called to a private dinner with Yuki, Kyou found himself wandering the halls after eating alone in his room. He became restless when the princess was busy, leaving no job for him to do.

“Kyon-kyon!” Kagura had caught up to him. “I found a way to break the curse! You need to come with me right away!”

“There’s no way I’m going anywhere with you!” He wrinkled his nose as he turned to head back toward his room.

“Oh~Yes~You~Arrrrrre~!” Kagura sang as leapt into the air, arms open wide.

 _Poof!_ An orange kitty was now gripped lovingly in her arms.

Kyou may be gruff, but he would never purposely hurt a girl. He begrudgingly remained in her arms, claws safely retracted, until she brought him to their destination.

“The dungeon again? Are we going antique shopping?” Kyou griped just before reverting to his human form. He put on the clothes that Kagura had also carried along with him.

A grey eye peeked through Kagura’s fingers as Kyou dressed.

“I found a secret door in the dungeon! I just know that the key to breaking your curse is in there!”

Kyou opened his mouth to argue, but then considered. What did he have to lose? Tohru was busy right now and at least he knew that rat wouldn’t be down there. So what if he wasted a few minutes of his day? Kagura was annoying, but it wasn’t like being around her caused him physical pain. Mental pain, maybe…

“Okay, show me.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to mention earlier, but Tohru's mom is alive and well in this universe :)

The moonlight created a silhouette of the figure behind the curtain. The outline of an ornate gown on the petite frame gave the impression of a china doll placed on the windowsill.

Entranced, the prince rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slid out from under sheets to perch on the edge of the bed.

A second figure materialized. A cat. No, it was a man. How could he have mistaken it? The man, around the same height and build as himself, yet baring a sword at his side took the hand of the maiden and the two began a dance.

Prince Yuki stood from the bed and reached for the curtain, but it was a long way off, such a long way, no matter how far he stretched and strained.

Then finally, he did connect with the curtain, but it was the sheer fabric that had reached out to him. It wrapped around his wrist, pulling mercilessly tight. The second panel engulfed his head, covering his mouth, making it impossible to cry out…

* * *

 

The sunlight bouncing off the vanity mirror finally awakened Tohru. She was usually able to wake up on her own before the sun hit that particular angle, but she been restless last night, tossing and turning, mind swirling with potential, and yet completely unfeasible, ways to kiss the prince and lift his curse.

After laying awake for a moment, the realization suddenly hit her- Tonight was the night of the ball! She bolted upright, then scooted out of bed. She had probably missed breakfast, but dressed quickly nonetheless.

After jogging down to dining room, she was met with Kisa, carrying out a tray full of empty dishes.

The small girl’s eyes widened as she looked form the other girl to the tray, then back again.

“Oh no! It’s okay! It’s my fault for sleeping in. You really don’t need to worry about bringing more food just for me…”

Kisa shook her head vigorously, a gesture Tohru took to mean that she’d still be receiving a meal regardless.

“Did the prince leave already?” she questioned nervously. Being late for breakfast on the one day when she wanted to make the best impression was embarrassing, to say the least. She wasn’t sure what would be worse, if she had missed him entirely, or if he was still sitting there waiting for her.

The young maid continued her head-shaking.

“Thanks, Kisa.” Tohru steeled herself, opening the dining room door.

Though the door groaned as it allowed the princess through, Yuki didn’t look up from the book he was engrossed in.

No breakfast plates remained on the table, instead, two books were spread open in front of the prince, one smaller than the other and containing lined paper, in which he would occasionally scribble something with a fervor that Tohru had yet to see from him before. In fact, each time she had seen him in the mornings, he had always been a groggy zombie, struggling to even butter his toast properly.

“Um, Prince Yuki?” Tohru attempted. There was no response beyond another jot in the little book. “Good morning!”

The prince’s head jerked up from the books, eyes wide as he regarded the princess.

“Princess!” He bolted up from his seat, rushing to pull Tohru’s out for her. “I’m very sorry that I didn’t see you come in…”

He returned to his own place at the table after making certain she was situated.

“It’s really okay, don’t worry about it,” she replied. “Can I ask what you’re working on?”

Yuki shifted in his seat, eyes leaving the princess to rest on his books once again. “I had a nightmare last night. I think it might have been an omen about the ball, so I’ve been trying to research more about it.”

“Hmm…Well, my mom says that we have nightmares in place of things happening to us in real life, because God wants to show us that bad things do happen, but much like waking up in the morning, there will still always be end to the bad… Ah, Kisa! Thank you! You really didn’t have to…”

The maid happily placed a platter of pancakes before the princess.

As Tohru was being served, Yuki quickly scribbled in his notebook once again, before looking back to the princess. “The Queen is a very wise woman. I’d like to meet her someday. …Oh, by the way, have you seen Kagura yet today? It’s not like Kagura to leave all the work to Kisa. Come to think of it, The Cat didn’t show up for breakfast either…”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you've probably guessed, the tile of this fic is taken from a song in the film Labyrinth. That movie has had so much influence over my writing. David Bowie's tragic passing has inspired me to pick this up again in his honor.

Kyou slumped against the clammy stonewall.

"Kyon-kyon?" Kagura rushed to his side. "Are you alright?"

"Kagura..." Kyou found himself too exhausted to snap at her. "We've been walking all night. I'm tired, and it's cold down here. Can you just admit that you were wrong about cure being down here? There's nothing down here but spiders, and I'm getting tired of squashing them for you. I know you're not really afraid of them," he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

Kagura's smile faltered. She couldn't admit to being wrong; the reason being that  _wrong_ and _lying_ were two very different things. She wondered if Kyou knew, and was just being polite. He put on a show of trying to be brash and rude, but that wasn't the Kyou she knew deep down, the one Kagura had loved for as long as she could remember.

The two had been walking through the palace's underground tunnels all night, sometimes with Kagura clasping hands with the knight (' _what if we should become separated in the dark tunnels!?'),_ other times chatting merrily at him, catching him up on all that had happened ever since he had left the palace to stay with Tohru's family.

Kagura extended her hand to pull him back up. Something that Kyou did find not entirely unimpressive about the girl was her immense strength, terrifying as it often was. She would make a decent knight with some training, he sometimes thought- as long as he wasn't the one who had to be training her.

With a half-hearted eyeroll, Kyou accepted her hand, allowing Kagura to hoist him back up.

“I think at this point, it would be faster to just keep going until we wind up somewhere, than it would be to turn back around,” Kagura suggested, her tone more serious than before. From the maps she had studied before they had set out, this seemed to her like the clearest course of action. She had had a great deal of fun, but it wasn’t fair to Kyou to keep dragging him around like this, especially not with the ball coming up later in the evening. She had hoped that they would have run into some sort of danger, tunnels beneath castles were often booby-trapped, after all, to ward off would-be ne'er-do-wells that may attempt to reach the upper floors by way of the dungeons.

She continued to clasp his hand as they traversed the tunnels, Kagura swinging their arms now and then. Kyou’s hand was warm despite the coolness of the cellars. Though Kagura had given up her pretense of being frightened, Kyou still made no attempt to pull away from her. He must be tired, she thought, suddenly touched by a fleck of guilt. Often times, she could fool herself into thinking that little actions such as this, came about because he liked her back, but that couldn’t be case. It would seem that the gloom of dungeon tunnels was beginning to get to her too, she thought.

After what seemed like another hour of walking, the two finally came upon something that was not dust, a spider, nor cobweb- It was a gigantic statue of a dog, positioned so that it was directly blocking a doorway at the end of the tunnel.

“Now what?” Kyou sighed.

Kagura opened her mouth to speak, but a male voice spoke over her.

“Who dares to pass?” the dog asked. It was clear that the thing was attempting to be menacing, yet the words came out rather conversational.

Kyou knew that voice from somewhere.

“Eek! Save me!” Kagura peeped theatrically, clutching Kyou’s arm with a crushing grip. Maybe this misadventure would work out in her favor after all.

“State your business,” the carved stone dog attempted again.

“You’re the Wizard Shigure!” Kyou pointed at the thing accusingly. “I mean, Shigure enchanted you to sound like him!”

“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about,” the dog replied.

This was absolutely something that wizard would do. Kyou remembered him vividly from their encounter during his childhood. Not could he not cure Kyou and Yuki of their curses, he was also just plain annoying.

“Ask him what we have to do to pass!” Kagura hissed into Kyou’s ear. This was her chance, _his_ chance. Her knight in shining armor would defeat this thing, causing him to fall madly in love as he protected her. The two would then dance together at the ball, there in which true love’s kiss would break the curse! This would be the best day of her life, Kagura was now certain.

“Ask him yourself!” Kyou hissed, finally attempting to push her off of his arm.

The statue, however, took this as question enough. It had probably been waiting years for a chance to give some passerby grief.

“In order to pass my test, and enter the Castle Sohma, you must…” the dog paused for dramatic effect, “PAY SINCERE COMPLIMENT TO YOUR COMPANION! Dun dun duuuuun...”

Kyou blanched. Of all the things the guard could have asked him to do, this was... He had been expecting to be asked to…He didn’t know…fight a horde of skeletons bare-handed or something. That, he could have handled, but this… 

That damned wizard just have enchanted it to make the password into whatever would be hardest for a person to admit out loud.

“She’s good at scaring the hell out of me!” Kyou shouted.

“Bzzzzzt! Wrong-o!” the guard dog teased.

“Kyon-kyon!” Kagura pleaded. Even if maybe she wasn’t his most favorite person, there must be at least one thing about her that he liked, even just a little.

He paused for a moment, turning to look at the girl beside him, brow furrowed.

Kagura, the girl he grew up alongside, the girl who kept his secret. Kagura, with her wide eyes, grey as summer storm clouds, her hair silky dark.

Kagura.

Kyou turned away from her then, instead facing the statue head on, fists clenched, face turning as red as the ribbon on the uniform Kagura wore.

He took a deep breath, and spoke. “Kagura is…strong. Not just her damn muscles, but on the inside too. When she wants something, she won’t back down. She’s optimistic and cheerful, and it rubs off the people around her… Now let us out of this freaking dungeon!”

"K-kyou!" Kagura cried out, teary-eyed and throwing her arms around him as the statue shifted over and the door began to creak open. "I love you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left now! We're nearly there!


End file.
